There's an App for That - Tips, Tricks, & Giveaways

   By SheSpeaksTeam  Jan 17, 2012
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Millions of us unwrapped the seasons hottest gifts during the holidays  - the iPhone 4S, iPad 2, Droid RAZR, Kindle Fire, Nikon 1 and more. For many people these new gadgets were also the first they've owned in a whole new generation of touchscreen and voice activation technology. How many of you were excited but found that after 5 minutes you had to set them down and decided to figure out how to use them later?

With technology overload these days, many of us use our electronics on the "easy" setting. We do what we can easily figure out and never end up using the "really cool" settings and getting value from our investment.

There are some basic steps that can help you get the most fun out of your new "toys." Here are our tips for improving your electronic gadget experience:

  1. Set time in your day to read the manual. Even if it is a short manual, we recommend splitting it up reading a few pages at a time. If you read it all at once it can be overwhelming.
  2. Utilize what is at your fingertips - YouTube! YouTube has great 101 videos. Received an iPhone over the holidays? Learn how to use it with the help of the 101 videos on TodaysiPhone's YouTube Channel. Received an Android over the holidays? Learn how to use it with the help of 101 videos on MobileUnlimited's YouTube Channel.
  3. Follow the company of your new electronics on Facebook and Twitter. These are great customer service outlets. Why spend time waiting on hold when you can have a response on twitter before the agent picks up the phone? Most companies also post tips, videos and important software updates on their feeds.
  4. Be brave! Believe it or not, it's pretty hard to break things. Use random settings and see what happens. You can always reset items back to the default.

The trick to getting the most out of your phones and tablets are apps. Here are our five must-have useful, user-friendly apps for 2012:

Apple:

  1. Shopper: This is the best-selling grocery app in the App Store, according to MacWorld. With Shopper you can create multiple lists and organize them to match the aisle layout of the stores you shop in. On a budget? Add prices, quantities, and coupons to track expenses.
  2. Mint.com Personal Finance: With this app you can easily organize all your finances in one place. It provides you with a look at where you spent your money over the month and helps you come up with a budget. Also, with having it on your mobile device no spending goes unaccounted for.
  3. Silent Body Guard: Everyone, every age and gender, should have this app. You hope you will never need it, but if you ever find yourself in trouble this app sends a text message and email with your GPS location to your emergency contacts every 60 seconds. All you have to do is open the app and tap the silent alarm button.
  4. Nike Training Club: This app is a personal trainer with you at all times. You get detailed workouts designed to match your fitness goals with step-by-step instructions. Our favorite feature is the ability to set your music to go with your workout.
  5. allrecipes.com Dinner Spinner: How many times have you looked in your pantry and thought to yourself, "what in the world can I cook with these ingredients?" Now the answer is at your fingertips! Type in what you have to this app and it will search its recipe database for corresponding dishes.

Android:

  1. Grocery King 6 Shopping List: This is the best-selling grocery app in Android Market Store. With app you can create multiple lists and organize them to match the aisle layout of the stores you shop in. Our favorite feature is you can compare product prices to other retailers. Simply scan the barcode of the item you are about to purchase, and it will indicate if it is cheaper or more expensive than other retailers.
  2. Mint.com Personal Finance: With this app you can easily organize all your finances in one place. It provides you with a look at where you spent your money over the month and helps you come up with a budget. Also, with having it on your mobile device no spending goes unaccounted for.
  3. Emergency Panic Button (SOS): Everyone, every age and gender, should have this app. You hope you will never need it, but if you ever find yourself in trouble this app sends a text message and email with your GPS location.
  4. Pocket Trainer: This app turns your phone into a personal trainer. It includes both written and video descriptions of how to perform each exercise. What we really love is that it shows you how to do easy exercises using what you have at home.
  5. allrecipes.com Dinner Spinner: How many times have you looked in your pantry and thought to yourself, "what in the world can I cook with these ingredients?" Now the answer is at your fingertips! Type in what you have to this app and it will search its recipe database for corresponding dishes.

Most importantly, remember the goal of apps is to help you simplify and organize. You can get bogged down by downloading too many apps and actually defeat the purpose. Make a list of things you would like help with and then narrow it down to categories. Then purchase an app for each category.

We want to hear from you and which electronics you find are the most user-friendly? We want your recommendations.

If you share your user-friendly electronics reviews and recommendations this week you'll be entered for a chance to win one of our 4 giveaway prizes - a gift card to either iTunes or Amazon for Android Market. Submit your favorite electronic product to SheSpeaks Reviews OR add a comment to this blog post by 6pm EST on January 23rd, 2012. You can enter a review AND a comment and you will have two entries to win!

review

 Prizes*:

*Winners will have a choice of either an iTunes or Amazon for Android Market gift card. 4 winners total.



Apple iTunes $15 App Store Gift Card



Amazon for Android Market Gift Card

 

The contest starts January 17, 2012 and ends January 23, 2012; at 6:00 p.m. Must be a US resident. No purchase necessary.

GOOD LUCK!

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Comments
pinson by pinson | MANCHESTER, TN
Jan 18, 2012

i love the xbox 360 kinect. I can play all my exercise games on it. I love playing my ur shape fitness evolve on it and can't wait till zumba 2012 comes out in feb.

Bbpr2016 by Bbpr2016 | Atco , NJ
Jan 18, 2012

I have an iphone 4 which is my second iphone. I love it. I also got a kindle fire for Christmas that i love. I love all the selection of books, the web capability, and apps.

gracepap by gracepap | Watervliet, NY
Jan 18, 2012

Would love a Kindle Fire. Played with one at Best Buy and loved it! Really everything you need in one small tablet!

alea79 by alea79 | PLYMOUTH, MI
Jan 18, 2012

We have an iPad 2 that we just love - so many helpful applications for us and so many fun applications for the kids to enjoy!

carriethehokie by carriethehokie | Roanoke, VA
Jan 18, 2012

I have an iPad and iPhone and can hardly function without them. I use both to keep up with news and current events. My favorite app is Flipboard (which is new to the iPhone). I can link all my favorite websites and social networks into a digital magazine. I only need to use one app to access everything rather than 20!

rkosully by rkosully | DOTHAN, AL
Jan 18, 2012

I am so impressed at all the apps that are available! Thank you for the article and reviews!!

pam674 by pam674 | SUN VALLEY, NV
Jan 18, 2012

I went to having the iPhone 3 to the iPhone 4S. I absolutely love it. Aside from the game apps, I love WAZE. It is a GPS for the phone. I get lost easily, and without having to pay for a GPS I can find my way around easily. Great App

laclay by laclay | BEAUMONT, TX
Jan 18, 2012

I have AppShopper (which is a free) where you can download free apps. I have a 2 yr. old grandson and I download interactive books for him that he enjoys.

Glamamama1 by Glamamama1 | E BRUNSWICK, NJ
Jan 18, 2012

I recently switched from a Droid to the iphone 4S and I love it. It is so easy to use and no problems like with the droid. I love Siri...I am in the car alot for work and Siri is very useful for to help me with tasks and remembering to do things like call back clients. The camera is great--equivalent or better than my droid. I love how light it is too--so much lighter than the droid.

princessbt by princessbt | DALLAS, GA
Jan 18, 2012

I have an ipod Touch. I like to have the app for ebay listed. It will take me directly to the items I would like to bid on quickly. If I were to login by using the website the functions are not the same. I like using the app to go to bid when I need to.

lynzerbean by lynzerbean | TINTON FALLS, NJ
Jan 18, 2012

I got an iPhone and I LOVE LOVE it. My daughter got an iPod and she can not get enough and the next thing on my list is an iPad, which I hope to get this year...so it is clear our household is a fanatic of apple products!!! Highly recommended!!!

animalgal by animalgal | kenosha, WI
Jan 18, 2012

28% of consumers have a windows phone. Why is there no apps listed for a windows phone?

zae123 by zae123 | Lancaster, NY
Jan 18, 2012

Unfortunately, I do not have a smartphone yet. For Christmas I received a Toshiba Thrive Tablet! I love it! I am still exploring the apps available on the Android marketplace. I ams upposed to be able to use it for Skype calls and also for video calling but have not had any interest in that yet.

Anitra by Anitra | CARY, NC
Jan 18, 2012

Fun giveaway. I added my review of the Kindle Fire!

Roseofsharyn by Roseofsharyn | Candler, NC
Jan 18, 2012

I own an iPhone and I have a collection of "must-have" apps for sure! Dragon Go is a great search app to have. You can search by voice and it pulls results from Google, YouTube, Wikipedia, Twitter, and many other sources. Kobo is great for reading eBooks to pass the time. The interface is nice and it has a lot more features (in my opinion) than the Kindle app or even the native iBooks app. Are you tired of keeping all those store rewards cards on your key chain? Put them into CardStar and it will keep them organized! Another valuable app I recommend is Springpad. You can save notes, recipes, articles online, etc. Organization is quick and easy. You can also access your Springpad online from your computer!